Clothes-line tightener.



C. T. HICKS.

CLOTHES LINE TIGHTENER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 1 6, 1911- ?1,250,876. r Patented Dec.18,1917.

CHARLES T. HICKS, OF PATERSON', NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

CLOTHES-LINE TIGHTENER.

Patented Dec. 18, 1917.

Application filed February 16, 1917. Serial No. 149,067.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES T. HICKS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Paterson, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, hav invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes-Line Tighteners; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to a clothes line tightener.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple, practical and efficient clothes line tightener of strong, durable and inexpensive construction designed for use on a pole pulley clothes line or similar line and capable of enabling such a clothes line to be instantly tightened up or loosened, as required, without the tying of knots in the line to effect such operation.

W'ith these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and pointed out in the claim hereto appended; it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of construction, within the scope of the claim, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a clothes line tightener constructed in accordance with this invention and shown applied to aportion of a clothes line.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of one of the sections of the two-piece box or casmg.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a clothes line tightener illustrating another form of the casing.

Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the same.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawing. I

In the accompanying drawing, in which is illustrated the preferred embodiment of the invention, the clothes line tightener comprises in its construction a box or casing composed of two pieces or sections 1 and 2, one of the pieces or sections being provided with top, bottom and end walls 3, 4, 5 and 6, and the other section or piece is provided with a rectangular flange or portion 7 extending over the top, bottom and ends of the section 1 and forming a lap joint with the same and adapted to reinforce the box or casing at such lap joint, whereby a strong, durable and light construction is provided.

The sections or pieces of the box or casing are provided with outwardly extending ears 8 disposed longitudinally of the device and having secured to it a fixed cylindrical transverse member 9 preferably secured to the cars by a transverse pin or rivet 10 and arranged between the said ears, as shown, in spaced relation with the adjacent ends 5 of the box or casing. The sections of the box or casing may be secured together in any desired manner. One end 11 of a clothes line is passed around the transverse member 9 and is knotted, as shown, and the other end 12 is passed through openings 13 in the end wall and is clamped against the bottom of the box or casing by a pawl or clamping lever 14. The openings are located at the lower portions of the ends 5 and 6 adjacent to the bottom and are preferably circular, as shown, to guide and center the clothes line and position the same in proper position to be clamped by the pawl or clamping lever.

The pawl or clamping lever, which is fulcrumed at a point intermediate of its ends by a transverse pin or rivet 15, may be constructed of any suitable material and may be stamped or otherwise formed and it is provided with an inner curved approximately semi-circular engaging portion 16 and an outer handle portion 17. The pawl or clamping lever is also provided with longitudinal side flanges 18, through which passes the pin or rivet 15, and the curved engaging portion. is corrugated at its lower convex face to provide transverse ribs 19 for firmly clamping the clothes line against the bottom of the box or casing and for causing the tension or pull on the clothes line to maintain the pawl or clamping lever firmly in engagement with the line. The pivot is located above and beyond the engaging portion of the pawl or lever and the pull on the line tends to swing the lever downwardly into engagement with the line so that the stronger the pull the tighter will be the engagement between the pawl or lever and the line.

The engaging portion of the pawl or lever is maintained normally in contact with the line by a spring 20 having coils arran ed on the transverse pin or rivet and provi ed with upper and lower arms 21 and 22, which bear against the under side of the top of the box or casing and against the upper concave face of the engaging portion of the pawl or lever, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

When it is desired to tighten the clothes line it is only necessary to pull the line through the box or casing to the desired tension and the pawl or lever will automatically engage the line and clamp the same, and when it is desired to loosen the line, the line is pulled in the same manner and freed and the pawl or clamping lever is then swung upwardly by depressing the outer handle portion to permit the line to slide outwardly through the box or casing.

The boX or casing is provided with an upper opening 23 for the passage of the handle portion of the pawl or lever. The free terminal portion of the clamped end of the clothes line hangs loose from the box or casing.

In Figs. 5 and 6 is illustrated another form of the invention in which the casing is formed from a single piece of sheet metal or other suitable material and is composed of spaced sides 21 and a connecting bottom portion 25, which is curved to conform to the configuration of the clothes line. The sides of the casing are parallel and are provided at one end with integral longitudinally disposed tapered extensions 26 provided with transversely alined perforations 27 at their ends for the reception of the pivot or axle 28 of the grooved roller 29. The sides of the casing are also connected by transverse fastening devices 30, 31 and 32. The fastening device 30 forms a pivot for the pawl or lever; the fastening device 31 supports the spring and the fastening device 32 is engaged by the terminals of the side portions of the spring. This device provides a simple, cheap and practical construction of great strength and durability and the operation is similar to that heretofore described. 1

lVhat is claimed is:

A clothes line tightener comprising a casing including spaced sides provided at one end with extensions forming ears, and a connecting bottom, said casing being open at each end of the bottom to permit the passage of a clothes line through the casing and enable the said clothes line to lie against the bottom, a transverse member carried by the ears and having one end of the clothes line secured to it, and a clamping lever mounted between the sides of the casing and having a curved cam portion arranged to clamp the clothes line against the bottom of the casing.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES T. HICKS.

Witnesses:

J ACOB VANs'roRoHoK, JACOB VEENSTRA. 

